State law makes it harder for taxpayers to find out about legal settlements by public bodies

The Beecher School District paid nearly $250,000 to avoid two lawsuits over alleged sexual misconduct by a former public school administrator.

But no lawsuit was ever filed, so taxpayers did not have easy access to this information because of a state law that allows public bodies to enter into non-disclosure clauses that bar either side from discussing specifics of a case.

The result is a Catch-22 that requires taxpayers to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain a document they may not even know exists. Continue>>>
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